Tokka Week 2011 Stories
by wherewulf
Summary: Oneshots for Tokka Week 2011.
1. A Kiss Before Parting

Hi, guys.

As you may know, Tokka Week for 2011 is from August 1st thru August 7th, and this year I thought I'd take a whack at writing about the prompts; we'll see what happens. Prompt #1 for this year is _**Rumble**_.

So here goes. Hope you like it.

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><p><strong><em>A Kiss Before Parting<em>**

Sokka stood at one side of the arena in his dark blue Water Tribe uniform and gray wolf's head helmet. Slung on his back were his sword, his warclub, and his boomerang. He gazed sternly at his opponent.

On the other side, Toph, clad in green and tan Earth Kingdom garb and wide conical helmet, rolled her head from side to side, cracking her neck. A corner of her lip turned up in a smirk.

In the middle, on the edge of the arena, were Aang and Katara.

"Now, _how_ did they get into this again?" Aang asked.

Katara shrugged. "The usual. Boasting. Toph said she could take anybody, anytime—especially non-benders. Sokka disagreed. They got into a spat, so here they are."

Aang looked at the two combatants. "Isn't that kind of dumb?"

Now it was Katara's turn to smirk. "You remember who you're talking about?"

"Oh." Aang chuckled. "Yeah."

"I heard that!" Sokka glared at them.

"So did I." Toph's smirk was full-on now. "You think you can take me down, Snoozles?" She beckoned with her fingers. "Come on. Rock my world."

Sokka knew that this was one of those times when he had bitten off more than he could chew… but he also felt like he had a few tricks up his sleeve. And he knew his opponent.

"You're on."

He ran right at Toph.

Toph let him come… then sighed and sent an Earth wave his way. Sokka leaped to his left. Toph stomped and raised up some rocks, then roundhouse-kicked them at Sokka. Again he rolled left—then stopped. He picked up some rocks.

"_Ooooooooooo_, now you're the fancy dancer!" Toph scoffed. "Did you take lessons from Twinkletoes or something?"

Sokka grimaced; Toph was in full Earth Rumble trash-talking mode. He made to reply—then stopped himself. He remained still and silent. Then he gently tossed the rocks, first one, then the other.

Toph caught it. She lashed out with another Earth wave—that passed just a few arm's lengths from Sokka, right where the rocks had landed. Now he smirked.

Toph turned her head, first one way, and then the other. "Whatsamatter, Sokka, nothing to say? I didn't _think_ you were the strong silent type!"

Again Sokka restrained himself. He judged the distance between himself and Toph. As quietly as he could, he slid his boomerang from his sling. Metal whispered on leather.

It wasn't quiet enough. Toph zeroed in and grinned. "Gotcha." She hurled more rocks at Sokka.

Sokka sidestepped the barrage, then aimed and threw his boomerang. He ran at Toph, randomly zigzagging to throw off her aim. Several rocks came close to him. He drew his sword and warclub.

Toph barely heard the whirling boomerang as it came in. Just in time she threw up an Earth wall and blocked it.

Now Sokka came at Toph head on. She threw everything she had at him. He proved himself his father's son, sidestepping waves and walls of Earth, smashing and deflecting with his club and sword. He ate up the remaining distance and made the final rush.

"_Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!_"

The flat of his sword was on Toph's neck.

He was magnanimous in victory. He sniffed. "Care to apologize?"

Toph gently moved aside his sword… and kissed him on the nose.

He smiled. "Hey hey, Toph, that's not—"

Then he saw that she'd raised her foot.

His face fell.

Her foot came down in a stomp, bringing up a column of earth and launching him.

"—_faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaair!_"

His sword went one way, his club went another, and his body described a graceful arc that carried him clear out of the arena into some bushes beyond. Aang and Katara traced the arc with their eyes as he flew, both shocked and amused.

Toph sniffed. She walked toward Sokka's landing spot with no little amount of strut.

"Don't mess with the best, Snoozles. Don't mess with the best."


	2. Meats Expectations

Prompt #2 for this year's Tokka Week is **_Addiction_**. Well, me being me and Sokka being Sokka, there's only one thing I could think of. So...

Hope you like this one, too. :D

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><p><strong><em>Meats Expectations<em>**

Toph came out the front door of the Gaang's house in Ba Sing Se, ready for another day of... well, whatever she felt like, when she heard an odd crunching, squeaking sound. She also smelled something, but she didn't know what it was. A moment later, though, she did know who.

"Sokka—what are you doing?"

"Having a schnack," Sokka replied around a mouthful. "Blubbered sheal jerky. They jusht got a shipment indo town de odder day." He swallowed and offered the bag. "Want some?"

Toph's nose wrinkled. "What is it?"

"What do you think? It's meat—a very special kind of meat. I really missed it when we were away from the South Pole."

Toph sighed. "And I hang out with these people." She smiled a little. "Sokka, I'm happy for you. Really. But you're in Ba Sing Se. A meat capital of the world. Have you ever _smelled_ what's going on out there? You live in Meatopia! And this is all you want?"

Sokka glared. "Hey, I haven't had this stuff in _months!_ I'll eat what I like, thank you very much!"

Then he thought about it. "Though I am open-minded when it comes to meat. I suppose I could... broaden my horizons a bit."

Toph grinned. "Allow... me."

o o o

Toph took Sokka on a carnivorous safari through the shops, restaurants, and vendor stalls of Ba Sing Se... and Sokka discovered he truly lived at the base of a mountain of meat. It seemed that every kind of livestock or fowl that he had seen on his travels through the Earth Kingdom could be found _here_, and served in a mouthwatering array of forms, besides.

There was delicate chicken pig almond ding. There was General Toso's chicken pig—so spicy that Sokka swore it _had_ to come from the Fire Nation. There was mongarian buffalo cow beef, from the ostrich horse riders of the far north, served in a hearty brown sauce on a bed of green onions. Somehow Toph and Sokka wound up in a chopstick duel over the last piece on the serving plate.

In more than one restaurant. Sometimes it involved the furniture.

There was hong sue cow pig, batter dipped and fried and served with a spicy sauce. There was the pride of the city, Pazing Ze goose duck, crunchy sweet on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, and a whole row of restaurants and stalls proclaimed they had the best. Toph and Sokka naturally tried them all.

Sweet and sour chicken pig, buffalo cow and broccoli, mu shu cow pig, _dim sum_ with every kind of meat and fish and fowl and shrimp served under the sun (and moon), baked, fried, batter-dipped, steamed... oh, it went on and on.

Finally, after days of meaty discussions, Toph and Sokka came home, stuffed and happy.

"_Wellllllllllllll_, Snoozles," said Toph expansively, "what do you have to say about all _that?_"

Sokka didn't make a response. Instead, he went inside, then came back out to sit on the front porch—with his bag of blubbered seal jerky. He dug out a strip and started munching on it.

Toph closed her eyes, shook her head, and smiled. "You—are—hopeless."


	3. Past and Present

Prompt 3 for this year's Tokka Week is_**Plan of Attack,**_ and believe it or not, it gave me some trouble. Still, hope you like it. :D

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><p><em><strong><span>Past and Present<span>**_

Everyone was back inside the Gaang's house at Ba Sing Se—including Katara and Aang, who were back in from the balcony looking rather pleased with themselves. Sokka was still "painting the moment", but on seeing Iroh, a thought struck him. He asked Iroh about the Battle of Ba Sing Se, in particular what his plan had been about assaulting the city once again.

"When the Order of the White Lotus attacked Ba Sing Se," said Iroh, "we knew that the Firebenders inside the city would be our greatest threat. While Sozin's Comet was in the sky, they would be very dangerous. We therefore decided to have our Firebenders lead the attack, and have everyone else in support. We also relied on the element of surprise."

"I'm surprised you attacked during Sozin's Comet at all!" replied Sokka. "You knew the Firebenders would be at their most dangerous then, and that you'd face a whole lot of 'em! Why'd you do that?"

"As I have said—we were relying on _surprise_." Iroh grinned. "_No one in their right mind_ would attack a Firebender when he is strongest, let alone on the day of Sozin's Comet. We thought they would not expect that. We also needed a way through the Wall of Ba Sing Se." He smiled humbly. "Fortunately, I was able to provide that."

"I'll say you did. From what we heard, you made one big blow, and _pow!_ You blew right through the Wall!"

"Yes, I did." Again Iroh smiled. "That was the effect of Sozin's Comet. _All_ Firebenders felt stronger then… but a master can feel increased focus as well as power. What my brother did at the edge of the Earth Kingdom, Jeong Jeong and I did at Ba Sing Se."

"I'm surprised the Fire Nation soldiers didn't fight back just as hard," said Sokka. "I mean, they could feel that power too, right?"

"Ah." Iroh grinned. "That was another part of our strategy. As you know, we didn't have as many Firebenders as the Fire Nation did… but we did have masters of many different arts. We divided ourselves into teams and attacked the city. Master Pakku attacked with his Waterbending, Master Piandao with his sword. And I would imagine you are familiar with King Bumi."

Toph and Sokka chuckled. "Yeah," Sokka replied. "We are."

"The way that we attacked meant that the Fire Nation soldiers were faced with more than one style of attack. They were forced to respond to each style. We also fought within the walls of Ba Sing Se, among the houses. It was not a style that we preferred, as we didn't want to hurt the people in the city, but it meant that the Firebenders had obstacles to their bending. We were able to take them down as we met them."

"But what about the Dai Li?" Sokka asked. "Didn't you expect to run into them?"

"That was another possibility we discussed," Iroh replied. "In the end, it was felt that if we faced them, we would deal with them in the same way—with teamwork."

Toph faded out a bit as Iroh and Sokka discussed the particulars of the battle. It was interesting… sort of… but getting into the nitty gritty of it really wasn't her thing. She appreciated the value of advance planning, but she much preferred acting on it; bashing heads and taking names was more her style.

She did appreciate what Sokka was doing. That was one thing that impressed her about him, though she wasn't about to tell him so. She appreciated his desire to _learn_. Of course, it also meant that Sokka wound up licking walls or drinking cactus juice, but one had to think he'd come away more enlightened by the experience. Here, Sokka had an opportunity to learn strategy from a master, and he was taking advantage of it.

Sokka was stubborn, and when he wanted something, he would go after it—but when he wasn't able to, he would learn how. He had shown that with Master Piandao. Toph had also heard from Katara how Sokka had approached Suki to learn her martial art as well, as well as how it had happened. Beaten and humiliated, he had come back to learn. And he had learned.

Not that Toph gave a hogmonkey's nose about Suki, of course, but she appreciated what it meant.

Katara came near them. "Well, Aang and I are going for a walk. We'll see you later." The group said their goodbyes.

After they left, Toph gave Sokka a nudge. "Not that I mean to break up the grand discussion of strategy, but I detect a strategic opportunity involving some water balloons." She nodded toward where Katara and Aang had gone.

Sokka grinned. "One should take advantage of such opportunities." They said their goodbyes too, and then they left, snickering as they went as they discussed the where and how of the ambush.

Of course, given Katara's familiarity with water, that turned into a learning opportunity for Sokka, too.


	4. The Next Generation

Well, finally got back on track with these. They won't _all _be done during Tokka Week, but I'll do my best to get 'em done.

Prompt #4 is _**Mother**_. I thought about it a couple ways, Toph's mom, Sokka's mom, Katara acting as their mom... but then given recent events, I realized that there was a fourth possibility.

And probably everybody across the fandom is doing the same thing, but here's my take on it. XD Hope you like it.

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><p><strong><em>The Next Generation<em>**

Toph and Sokka were enjoying lunch at a restaurant they'd found on their meat safari through Ba Sing Se.

"So tell me," Sokka said after he popped another meat-filled dumpling into his mouth, "you ever think about having a kid?"

Ordinarily Toph's ingrained decorum would have prevented her from making a display; not this time. She almost launched a dumpling she'd been eating off to a neighboring table. Sokka snickered at her reaction as she recovered. When Toph could speak again, she said the logical thing.

"**_What?_**"

"I said, did you ever think about having a k—"

"I heard you just fine, Snoozles. Whatever made you ask _that_ lame question?"

"Oh… I don't know…" Sokka discreetly sipped his tea as a few toddlers at neighboring tables wailed for attention. Their parents quickly hushed them up.

"No, really. What made you ask that?"

"It's on my mind sometimes. You know… keeping up the family…"

Toph snickered. "What, seriously? You think about a bunch of little Sokkas running around?"

"Yeah, I do. I'll probably take over for Dad one of these days, and I think about who's gonna follow me."

"Oh, great. You, the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe." She grinned. "Good thing ice floats—you'd probably sink the South Pole otherwise."

"Hey!" Sokka glared at her. Toph snickered again. He leaned back. "So you never thought about being a mom?"

She took a long sip of tea before answering. "Nope."

"Huh. That actually surprises me."

She got a quizzical look on her face. "Sokka… did somebody slip cactus juice into your tea or something? Why would that surprise you? Do I _look_ like I'm mom material to you?"

Sokka smiled. "Actually, you do."

"Okay—why?"

"Well, I just thought that with your upbringing, you'd be a pretty good mom."

"My upbringing. Sokka, I was treated like a piece of china—like one of these cups! They were afraid I would break, so they didn't let me do anything!"

Sokka folded his arms with satisfaction. "Exactly."

"What?"

"Yeah! That's how your parents treated _you_, and I'd think that you wouldn't treat _your_ kid that way. Not somebody as rough 'n tumble as you are. You'd let 'em do stuff!"

Toph shrugged slightly and smiled. "Well, _that's_ probably true."

"Yeah! You see?"

"Yeah… you're probably right. On _that_, anyway."

They ate a bit more of their lunch.

"Actually, my mom treated me pretty well, come to think of it," she added. "If it weren't for her, they wouldn't have let me outside at all. They both love me, but… you think you could love somebody too much? Like you're afraid of them getting hurt or losing them?"

Sokka nodded. "Yeah, I could see that. But you have to let 'em go, sometime. Otherwise… they can't fly."

"I think I would… _IF_ I had a kid," she said quickly.

He smiled. "That's exactly what I'm getting at. You would. You would do that."

He spread his arms. "And you'd take 'em around the world, and have adventures… you'd get to share 'em with your kid. They'd get to know who you are."

"I _guess_ they would…" she said dubiously.

"Really. You're really something, Toph Bei Fong. I think your kid would like to know that."

"Why, thank you." Toph enjoyed the compliment—and what laid underneath. But she couldn't leave it there. She couldn't help herself. "All right. Question for you, Mr. Family Man." She leaned forward with a grin. "Who would I have 'em _with?_"

"Why, uh…" Sokka saw the look in her eyes, and wondered both how he got his foot in his mouth and how he was going to get it out. "Uh…"

And Toph sat back and enjoyed it. She wasn't about to let him get off the hook _that_ easily.

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><p><strong>AN:** Incidentally, one way to say "steamed dumpling" in Chinese (not sure which dialect) is "shaomai", pronounced "shaow-my". If it weren't pronounced that way, it might be an awkward dish to serve at the Fire Palace. :D

Also... I know there were a lot of places I could have gone with this particular topic, in this particular area. I just might broaden this story out, one of these days.


	5. Lamplight

Okay, prompt number 5 for Tokka Week: _**Cozy**_. I thought this one was going to be easy; shows what I know. XD

I thought about doing a couple of things for this one, including a reprise of The Snows of Yester-Year (which I wrote last year for Kataang Week), just from the other side of the igloo. The more I thought about it, though, I didn't want to limit myself. So… same igloo, same idea, just different lyrics, so to speak. XD Hope you like it.

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><p><em><strong>Lamplight<strong>_

The South Pole was being blasted with snowstorms. Again. It was the third time in a week where they'd been stuck inside the igloos because of some dumb snowstorm outside.

Of course, given how often Toph had been stuck inside the igloo _anyway_, it didn't seem to make much of a difference. If there was earth someplace in this blasted snowcone of a settlement, nobody had told her where it was. So she couldn't see. And she couldn't move. And she couldn't feel.

No, wait, that wasn't true. She could feel, all right—cold. She felt a lot of that. In fact, if she felt any more of it, she wouldn't be able to feel anything else for a long time, maybe even ever.

They could stand her up as a statue right there. Toph the snowwoman. Hip hip hurray.

Whose bright idea was it to come down here, anyway?

She heard a rustling in the furs beside her. "Hey, Toph," said a quiet voice. "How're you doing?"

Oh, yeah… that's right. It was Sokka's idea. Or Aang's. Or maybe Sugarqueen wanted to see her daddy again, so she had made them come down here to this frozen—

Sokka tapped her on her blanket covered shoulder. "Hey, you in there?"

"Yeah, I'm in here," Toph answered crabbily. "Where else _would_ I be? It's snowing outside, if you haven't noticed, so I can't go anywhere!"

Sokka snorted. "You telling me it's snowing outside. That's funny."

"That is _not_ funny considering I've been stuck in this igloo _freezing_ all day!"

Sokka grimaced, knowing he'd stepped in it. "Sorry." He got under the furs himself.

"So what _have_ you been doing out there?"

"Checking in on the others… making sure the entrances are clear, that the food supply's okay."

"Sokka, you've got a bunch of frozen fish out back. They're not going anyplace in this storm, believe me."

"Yeah, right up until a pack of polar bear dogs find them. Then they'll go someplace. Believe me."

Toph scrunched down irritably into the furs. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

There was quiet for a while. Toph did hear some murmurings from Katara and Aang on the other side of the igloo, with an occasional giggle. _Probably sweet nothings_, she grumbled to herself. _They__ probably don't mind being stuck in here_.

"You cold?" Sokka, again.

"Yeah, big discovery, genius."

"Here. I'm a bit warmer, since I was working outside." Sokka shuffled over, furs and all, and got in close to Toph.

"Warmer" didn't describe it. It was like someone had shoved several fire-warmed rocks next to Toph. She lifted her blanket over him and snuggled in close.

Sokka looked at the top of her head and smiled. "Better?"

A light punch to his ribs. "What do _you_ think, Heatbender?"

He chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."

They both got comfortable. Sokka stretched out and relaxed, and Toph soaked up every bit of heat she could get.

"I'm sorry I haven't taken you out lately to 'see' things," said Sokka. "I've been busy—but there hasn't been that much to see lately, either. Unless you really want to know what snow looks like."

"No thank you," she said quietly. "I've 'seen' plenty of snow in here, thank you very much."

"I could tell you what I see in here, if you like," he replied, also quietly. It felt… more comfortable, somehow, to keep their voices down.

"What is there to see in here? It's an igloo."

"Yeah, but you'd be surprised what the light does. It changes."

"All right…" She snuck an arm across his waist. "Tell me about this epic light."

"Well, it—hang on a second." Sokka fished his arm out from under the furs and draped it over her shoulders. She snuggled in closer and hugged him around the waist. He hugged back and smiled. "There. Comfy?"

"It'll do."

"Uh-huh." He grinned. "Anyway… we have a lamp hanging from a rope basket in the ceiling of the igloo. We take turns getting up to fill it with oil as it burns down." He continued to keep his voice low. "There's a single wick in the lamp, so it doesn't give very much light, but there's just enough light to see by. It's better than just sitting in the dark."

Toph was feeling a lot more comfortable, but she couldn't let that one pass. "Oh, noooo… what a nightmare…"

"Yeah." He grinned and gave her a poke; naturally she poked back. "I see shadows from the string basket up on the ceiling; it looks like a mesh of dark lines. I can see… barely across to the other side, where Katara and Aang are—they're just a pair of fur-covered lumps on the floor."

"Yeah…" she said lazily, enjoying the warmth. "That's interesting."

"You can tell colors apart, but not very much. Everything is a faded copy of what it really is. But it's sorta fun, too." He gave her a little squeeze. "Everything is also kind of the same color, a sort of gray… halfway between totally dark and totally light. But it's a warm gray, a soft gray… a very comfy gray, the kind you wanna… snuggle up in, on a cold night. It's got a magic to it."

"Magic…"

"Yeah… it's kind of hard to describe. Everybody's sleeping, or talking in low voices, like you and me. I see a few smiles. Maybe they're talking about old times, or… what they're going to do when the storm ends. It's hard to s—"

Sokka stopped. He heard a soft snoring coming from Toph. He was glad for her snoring being soft; Toph could be a real Snorebender sometimes, too.

He gave her another gentle hug, careful not to wake her, and kissed the top of her head. Then he laid back in his own furs... and dreamed.


	6. Happy Returns

Prompt #6 is _**Tease**_.

I'd like to thank bearboymcg at Kataang Forever for the inspiration and the permission to post this one. He did a cartoon that started the wheels turning, and well, here we are.

Thanks again, Bear. :D

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><p><em><strong>Happy Returns<strong>_

Sokka threw his boomerang. He watched it fly out, circle around, and then come back to his hand. It felt really good. He threw it again.

It felt good to get outside, to get some fresh air after all those days and nights waiting for the storms to pass. The igloos were almost buried; the snow on top was almost as high as he was. Toph was right about the frozen fish out back not going anyplace. They only had to dig them out to get them.

Not that he'd admit it to Toph. He'd hear about it for a week.

The boomerang came back. He made to catch it—then hastily had to adjust as the boomerang came in at a flatter angle. He barely caught it.

He looked at it—"Hmmm."—then wound up and threw the boomerang again. It was fun to watch the boomerang whirling out there, now just a silver blur against the clear blue sky. It felt wonderful.

Again the boomerang came back and he went to catch it—only to watch it change angle again. He had to lunge to catch it, and he did, but he almost took a dive into the snow.

Now he really looked at it. "What the…?"

Still, nothing seemed out of place; none of the surfaces had changed, the bent of the boomerang was still the same.

"Oh, well."

He threw it again.

He watched it circle out. Again, nothing seemed amiss, everything looked normal… until its return leg. Then it sailed high. It was going to go over his head. He started to run, made a leap for it, and missed—

Then another hand caught it.

Sokka blinked, shocked. Then he broke out into a wide smile. "Toph! Thank goodness you caught it! How did you…?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "I did."

Sokka came over. "Thanks for catching it. I was afraid it was going to—"

Her smile turned into a grin. "Yeah, it was."

He looked confused. "How did you…?"

"_Metal_, Snoozles. I can't see a thing in this oversized snowcone of yours." Toph tossed the boomerang a little in her hand. "_This_ I can see. _And_ do something about."

Sokka was amazed. "You mean you can make it fly to you?"

Toph shrugged. "Hey, I have nothing else to concentrate on out here. It was pretty easy, really."

"That's something. I didn't know you could do that. Thanks a lot for catching it." Sokka started to take the boomerang. "I thought it was going to hit some hard ice or a rock or someth—"

Only Toph stopped him with a hand.

"Toph… I want my boomerang."

She turned her head, seeming to look at the boomerang. "That's nice."

"Toph, gimme back my boomerang!"

She grinned. "What's the magic word?"

Sokka was starting to get a little hot under the parka. "_Please._"

She chuckled. "Okay. Here!" She threw it.

Sokka lunged for it on the way out, then waited for it on the way back—only to see it go high again, lose spin, and drop into Toph's waiting hand. "Hey!"

Toph was all innocence. "Hey, what?'

"Why are you doing this?"

She grinned. "Why am I doing what?"

"_That!_"

"That? What that?"

"_That that!_ Why can't you give me my boomerang?"

"Oh, you mean this? Here!" She threw it again. It went around, came back, and flew into her left hand.

Now Sokka was really boiling… but he visibly turned down the flames on his anger and throttled back. "Toph, I would like my boomerang back. Please."

She giggled. "No."

"Why?"

"Because."

Red started creeping up past Sokka's collar. "Toph, I want my boomerang back _now._"

"I know you do."

"Then why won't you give it back to me?"

"Because."

"Because _why?_"

"All right. You really wanna know?" Toph dropped the teasing. "Because I've seen you with this thing, Sokka. The way you treat it, I sometimes wonder if you care about _it_ more than you care about _me. It_ is a boomerang, Sokka. Not a person. Not a friend. It—is—a—_boomerang!_ And I want you to think about that, the next time you think about _it._"

She tossed him the boomerang—he quickly made a breadbasket catch around his middle—then she turned around and stomped back toward the igloos.

Sokka stood there a moment or two, floundering for words.

"Well, if that's all you wanted—" he started, then stopped. He looked at his boomerang, then at a receding Toph, then sighed. He looked at the boomerang again. "Guess you're gonna have to go back in _your_ igloo for a bit, pal."

He slipped the boomerang into its sheath on his back, then went off after Toph, knowing he didn't have _anything_ he could say. Like men everywhere, though, he was going to try.


	7. Something Shared

Prompt 7 for Tokka Week 2011 is **_Secrets_**. Well, given a prompt like that and a subject like Tokka, you could go anywhere with it—and I really ought to see where everyone else went. XD

Here's where I went with it. Hope you like it.

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><p><em><strong>Something Shared<strong>_

There was something in Toph's pack that she never wanted anyone to know about. It was something that would have looked fine anywhere else, just not in her pack, and very few would have guessed what it was, except for Toph and her mother.

And there Sokka was, holding it: a black-striped bundle of gray fur.

Katara and Aang were away from camp, looking for firewood—ostensibly—and Sokka had gone to get something from Toph's pack, wanting to be helpful. On seeing it, he completely forgot what he was looking for.

"Sokka, I _told_ you, you don't have to get it. I'm perfectly capable of getting my own—"

Then Toph sensed where Sokka was and that he was holding something—of the exact size and shape of what she never wanted seen. By anybody.

She stood there in shock.

"Why... are you holding... that?"

Sokka couldn't help himself. He just had to twist Toph's tail.

"I dunno," he replied airily. "Why don't you tell me why you have it?"

Toph marched up to him and tore the thing from his hand. "You had no _right!_" She threw it down into her open pack and yanked the flap shut.

Sokka folded his arms. "So what are you doing with it?" he asked again in the same lofty tone.

Toph looked ready to spit lava.

"_It's none of your business!_ You had _no right_ to go through my stuff!"

"Okay, look, I'm sorry." Sokka dropped the tone from his voice. "I just meant to get what you were asking for, and when I saw that—" he shrugged, "—I stopped. I don't even know what it is, really, I just... wondered."

That didn't mollify Toph much.

"Could you tell me what it is? I promise I won't tell anybody else."

If there were ever such a thing as an indecisive volcano, Toph looked like it. She looked ready to launch him into next week with an Earth column… but at the same time, if there were anyone in the world she could share this secret with, he was standing right there in front of her.

The two sides rumbled within her... and then she deflated.

"Come on. I'll tell you." She made a no-look point back at the firepit. "Hey, write a note for Aang and Katara. I don't want _them_ to worry about where we are."

o o o

"So what is it?" Sokka asked as they walked in the forest.

Toph took a deep breath. "It's a stuffed badgermole toy."

Sokka giggled. "It's a _what?_"

She sighed a little. "It's a stuffed badgermole toy. I had it when I was a kid."

He scratched his head. "Why do you have it in your pack?"

"Look. When I was running after you guys, I had only a few moments to decide what to bring with me. It was a spur of the moment decision. I wanted something from home with me, and I had to choose quickly, so I chose _that._"

"Well, that I can understand. But what are you doing with a kid's toy, anyway?"

Toph came to a full stop. Sokka walked past her for a pace, then awkwardly stopped and turned back around.

"It was something my mom gave me when I was little. I had it even before I learned Earthbending from the badgermoles. It even smells like her a little." Toph didn't look at Sokka, but he could feel her voice reaching out to him. "It's something that always reminds me of her. When I was scared and alone and I couldn't see, for real, I always had that. I could find it and hug it, and then I wouldn't be alone."

Sokka didn't have to think too far back to know how that felt—especially since it had to do with her mother.

Toph shifted a little. "When I got older, I held onto it because I wanted to remember. I liked it. I know it sounds silly, but I do. It's something of her. And when I was leaving home, well..."

"You wanted something of home with you," Sokka finished. "You wanted to remember your mom."

Toph had to swallow to clear her throat. "Yeah."

Sokka came to her and hugged her. She hugged him fiercely back. "I would never ever make fun of you for that," he said. I'm sorry… I didn't mean to."

Then the technical part of him kicked in. "Well, I _did_, but—"

"Shut up, meathead."

He nodded. "Okay. Shutting up."

o o o

When Toph and Sokka returned to camp, Katara and Aang were back, too. There was also a good-sized pile of firewood.

"Hey, you're back!" Aang came over. "Did you enjoy your walk?"

Sokka looked over at Toph, then went back to Aang. He smiled. "Yeah… you could say that."

"You enjoyed it, huh?" Katara smiled wryly. "Did you get all smoochy-smoochy in the deep dark woods?"

"Nope," replied Toph. "But thanks for the suggestion, Katara. I'll have to remember that."

Everybody laughed. As everyone went back to doing their own thing, Toph felt over to where Sokka was standing… and thought there was a good chance he was looking at her.

She smiled. It was nice to have something to share.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I thought about getting into whether or not Katara knows about Toph and Sokka, as well as plumbing the depth of _her_ reaction when she found out, as we do with Sokka regarding Katara and Aang, but… I felt like that's best left for another day. :D


	8. Postscript and Afterthoughts

_**Tokka Week 2011: Postscript and Afterthoughts**_

I can't believe I wrote the whole thing. XD

Seriously, though, it was a challenge to come up with something for each of the seven prompts, but I'm glad I did. I'm glad I finished the thing. At the same time, though, I wish I'd taken more time to think about some of them, flesh them out better than I did. It would have made for better stories, I think. I guess I can always do that later.

As far as that goes, I found myself thinking more about Toph and Sokka in a different way, deeper ways. With the Plan of Attack prompt, number 3, it would have been easy enough to have Toph and Sokka get loud about what _they_ would have done to fight the Battle of Ba Sing Se. I wanted to avoid that, in part because I felt like I'd gotten "loud" with the first two prompts. Later on it struck me that "getting loud" like that might be considered stereotypical, that that's _all_ that Toph and Sokka can be, loud and obnoxious. That's not true. It isn't fair to them, either.

I've written about select prompts before, but never a whole week's worth like this—and I'm surprised at myself that I did it for Tokka Week before I did it for Kataang Week, since I shipped Kataang before I did Tokka. But there it is. XD The next time I do something like this, though, I may go back to writing about just certain prompts, and writing about them more in depth.

You never know, though. Depends on what mood strikes me. XD

Thank you again, everyone, for reading, and especially for commenting. It's been fun.

—wherewulf


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